


Familiar faces

by RibbonOnline



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Angst, Gen, how do people write summaries?, i dont know how to tag im so sorry, ive never posted or rlly written anything solo before so im so sorry abt this most likely sucking, yeah i think this would. count as angst skhdfs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26606593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RibbonOnline/pseuds/RibbonOnline
Summary: After outliving his friends, Teddie joins the Velvet room. He’s an attendant now, here to help the new generations of persona users!But they’re all teenagers in the end- children, fighting against gods. As he learns, it means most won’t win. Life isn’t fair, is it? Burying your guests is a tiring duty.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Familiar faces

“So, you’re still hanging around as well, hm?~“

“A velvet room attendant? You? … Hah.“

Teddie doesn’t answer the deity. He hasn’t seen Hi-no-Kagutsuchi since his last defeat- and quite honestly, he was hoping he’d never have to see him again. That isn’t how shadows work though, he knows that. So here he is. The deity of selfishness, in his full glory.

The god stares him down while he just sits there. Neither of them has a reason to fight the other. Teddie isn’t allowed to- one of the privileges he lost by taking on his role as a velvet attendant, he supposes. And there’s nothing to gain for Kagutsuchi when he’s aware Teddie won’t get in his way. So, here they are. Oddly calm, all things considered. It’s weird to just calmly sit next to someone who attempted to kill you, your friends, and the entire world the last time you met them, Teddie thinks.

It’s weirder knowing they’ll attempt it again.

“Continuing on, even when those who gave you this life have long since passed? How pitifully lonely.“

The eyes of the god are piercing, burning. Still, Teddie refuses to flinch away from them.

“Someone has to make sure the kids are up to the task, no? I’m just doing my part.~“ The reply is in a singsong tone, as he gives the other a faint smile. He gets a scoff as answer, as the deity looks away from him. He’d like to think it’s because of fear, even if he knows it to be false.

“I’ve been working hard at training them! I’m sure you’ll meet them soon enough, hmhm!“ He wishes he could feel as confident as he sounds. He wishes he could say for certain that soon enough, his guest and their team would be able to deal with this, win spectacularly and go on with theirs lives. But life isn’t fair, and he’s seen enough to know it by now.

Children don’t tend to have the best win rates against literal gods, as it turns out.

Kagutsuchi laughs. “Perhaps so.“ Teddie stands up, and dusts off his skirt before turning around. “Well, let’s not meet again, shall we? And good luck! You’ll need it!“ The jab feels empty, and Kagutsuchi doesn’t reply. He doesn’t wish to be here any longer. Besides, he has a job to do! A bunch of children to prepare for a battle against an actual god.

It feels unfair.

* * *

When training with them, he never loses his energy or his smile. He gives them pointers where he can, and never forgets to tell them how well they’re doing in between. The teenagers are all pumped, laughing, high fiving and cheering each other on. They’re good children, Teddie thinks. They really do believe they’ll pull this off. For their sake, he believes it too. He smiles, and the next training battle starts.

He can’t help them in the final fight, but he can prepare them for it. Make sure they’ll have the best shot possible at winning. The best possible shot at coming back.

One time, Marie asks him why he’s so involved with every single one of his guests. 'Won’t losing them just hurt more that way?‘ When he doesn’t answer her, she shakes her head and sighs. 'Just don’t lose yourself because of it.‘ He won’t, it isn’t an option. He has to stay positive, for them, for the ones after them, and for each one after that.

Another training fight starts, and he smiles at them.

* * *

Finally, he finds the body he was looking for amongst the rubble. Somewhere further in the tv world there’s a battle still raging, but here only the silence from the destruction remains. The shadow operatives managed to come just in time to deal with Kagutsuchi, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. Apparently Labrys and Aigis are there- and that’s nice, he thinks. He hasn’t seen them for months now. He misses them. For now though, he’s here for his guest.

He finds her, bleeding, only half conscious still. Her teammates already have passed- she won’t be long either. When he sits down next to her, she looks up. She tries to speak, but the words don’t come out right. He quietly shushes her as he takes her hand. He can see the tears, the guilt and hurt from seeing her teammates die in her eyes. She feels responsible. Of course- she’s a good person. They all were.

He can’t heal her, but he eases the pain the best he can, and smiles at her. As she starts crying, he starts telling her how well she did- how well they all did, and how proud he is of them. They made it so far, and they held the god off long enough for the Shadow Operatives to come. They did so well. He doesn’t know if he’s getting trough to her, but he doesn’t stop talking, doesn’t stop trying to soothe her, even long after she’s already gone. When he finally stops, the mask breaks, and he too cries.

She isn’t the first guest he’s lost- she won’t be the last. They were children, they’re all children- they shouldn’t have to carry this much weight on their shoulders. It’s not fair, none of it is.

He carries her out together with her teammates, and leaves them somewhere he knows people will find them soon. He doesn’t want their families to have to discover them hanging from an antenna. When he leaves them, he apologizes, silently vowing to do better the next time. He adds a summary of their lives next to their personas in his compendium before going back into the Velvet Room.

It hurts, just like it did every single time before, and the book feels heavy. He hopes that they’ll be able to rest in peace now.

* * *

When his new guest steps in trough the door, he looks at them. It’d hurt less to not get too involved, it’s true. But having someone care for them and love them all throughout is the least they deserve. Especially someone who they can talk to about everything that’s going on! Someone they can trust.

So he’ll love every single one of them, and he prays this one will live to grow old. Giving a bright smile, he sounds as happy as he humanly can. 

_A new day, a new chance._

“Hello! And welcome to the Velvet Room!~“

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading this! I’ve never written anything besides rps but I care a lot abt this AU so ;o; here we are! This was unbeta-ed, English ain’t my first language either and prolly not amazing, so again, thank you for bearing with me! (pun only half intended.)
> 
> Edit; heres the mini comic i drew that I based the start of the story on! https://ateddieadaykeepsthedoctoraway.tumblr.com/post/630093582388314112/familiar-faces


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